Terroir in a novel, unless it’s a historical novel, isn’t always as important as we’d like to make it.  The plot seldom hinges on it.  What I mean is – for all the hype around Nordic Crime, change the place & character names in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and it could be set almost anywhere.  Bassman’s We Monks & Soldiers might be predicting … Continue reading Black Bazaar by Alain Mabanckou, translated from the French by Sarah Ardizzone